Hacking and Hallmark Christmas Movies
by MCFan008
Summary: Sharon gets sick, which calls for a few days on the couch watching Christmas Movies.
1. Chapter 1

Sharon woke up with a groan when her alarm went off. The cold she thought she'd been coming down with for the last couple of days had turned into the full-blown plague. She looked to the unusually-empty space beside her in her bed, grateful for the first time in the last two days that Andy was staying at Nicole's house this week. Her husband was out of town on business, and she and both of her stepsons had the flu, so he'd been there to take care of them when he wasn't at work. Sharon wasn't ready to be so vulnerable around Andy just yet. She got up to get ready for work, as she could be miserable in her office just as easily as she could be miserable at home. Using her sick days to stay home with Rusty when he wasn't feeling well was one thing, but she hated to take sick days for herself. Her team had just finished a case, and in the few days following, when her team was in and out, tying up loose ends, and Sharon was buried in paperwork, it wasn't unusual for her and Andy to not see each other until the end of the day. Her closed office door would be enough to keep him off of her back for a good portion of the day.

Sharon stumbled into the bathroom and took a hot shower. After drying off and slipping into her warmest robe, she retrieved her hairdryer from under the sink and took it into her bedroom to dry her hair. It was Rusty's first day of Christmas Break, and she didn't want to wake him after the sleep-deprived, exam-filled several days he'd had. Once she'd made herself as presentable as she could get, she got dressed without bothering to iron her suit first and went to the kitchen to start the coffee maker. More times than not, she preferred to start her day with hot tea, but this morning definitely called for coffee.

Rusty woke up when he smelled the coffee brewing and couldn't go back to sleep. He got up to eat breakfast, happy that he'd woken up in time to see Sharon before she left for work. Between school and the fact that she and Andy spent most of their free time house-hunting, he felt like he hadn't seen her in months.

Rusty could tell that something was amiss with Sharon the moment he entered the kitchen. This woman, whom he had grown to love as his mother, whom he'd finally started calling 'Mom,' was slumped against the counter with a tired posture, waiting for the coffee maker to finish. Her suit hadn't been pressed, and her blouse wasn't tucked in. "Mom? You okay?"

Sharon jumped and turned around at the sound of his voice. "Mom?!" Rusty asked with greater urgency, noticing her flushed cheeks and bleary eyes. Sharon had taken care of him several times when he'd been sick over the last few years, but this was the first time he had ever seen her sick. Knowing she was caught, she didn't try to deny being sick. She filled her coffee mug and took a sip, then gave Rusty a wry smile.

"And you say _I'm_ creepy."

Rusty winced at her painfully hoarse and congested voice. "Awww, does Mommy have the sniffles?" Sharon nodded pitifully and stuck her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. Rusty pulled her into a hug before she could protest that she didn't want him to get sick. Sharon leaned into his chest and let him hold her. Even though he was her child, it felt good to be cared for.

Rusty could feel the heat from Sharon's forehead through his t-shirt. Seriously worried now, he felt her forehead, checking her for a fever, just like she had done for him countless times when he told her he wasn't feeling well. Her skin burned against his palm. "Mom! You're burning up! You can't go to work today."

"Rusty-" Sharon was interrupted by hacking coughs. She could tell the cough was going to be productive, so she started for the paper towel roll on the counter to catch whatever was coming up. Mistaking her urgency for impending vomit, Rusty grabbed her arm, rushed her over to the sink, and held her hair back from her face. "Not-throwing-up-" Sharon gasped between coughs, trying to extract the offending substance from her lungs. Not convinced, Rusty held her hair in one hand and patted her back with the other. Finally successful, Sharon leaned down and spit into the sink.

"Mom, please. You look miserable. You guys don't even have a case, and I'm on Christmas Break now. Wouldn't you rather stay here and watch those sappy Hallmark Christmas movies? They're on all damn day now. Hell, I'll even watch them with you, if you'll stay home." Sharon thought about it. She really was feeling bad and wouldn't get much accomplished at work, anyway. Except spreading germs. Rusty could tell she was wavering. "Go put your pajamas on." He took her coffee from her, and she groaned as he pried it from her fingers. "I'll make you some tea with honey in it for your throat. Coffee has too much caffeine, especially when you're si-oh, dear god, I sound just like you."

"I guess you've heard all of this from me enough for it to stick with you."

"I guess so. Now, go change into some warm and comfortable pajamas, young lady. I'll text Provenza and tell him you're staying home sick today."

"Yes, sir." Sharon handed Rusty her phone and went to her bedroom to change clothes. He entered her passcode and sent a quick text to Provenza. Sharon discarded her suit and blouse on the floor of her bedroom and pulled on her favorite flannel pajama pants and soft LAPD sweatshirt. After removing her makeup and throwing her hair up into a messy bun, she grabbed the pillows from her bed and went to the living room, where Rusty was putting sheets and blankets for her on the couch. "Thanks, honey." She sank down into the couch, and Rusty covered her with a blanket. In true Sharon fashion, he held the thermometer up expectantly.

"Ruuuustyyyyy, I already know I have a fever," Sharon whined. "I don't need to check my temperature."

"It didn't take long for you to start sounding like me. Now, open. Oh, god, this is really getting creepy."

"I don't _care_ what my temperature is."

"Well, I do. Even I can tell you have a fever, so you know it has to be high. You always make me let you check my temperature. It's your turn."

"You're my child."

"You're my mom. And I'm twenty."

"I don't care if you're fifty. You're my child." Defeated, Sharon went to take the thermometer from Rusty so she could hold it under her tongue, but he held on to it.

"Rusty, I don't want you to get sick."

"Mom. I've drank after you, like, 800 times in the last few days, when you were probably already contagious. If I'm going to get sick, it won't be from being near you today." Rusty slipped the thermometer under Sharon's tongue and held it there until it beeped. He was kind of enjoying taking care of Sharon, for a change. His eyes widened when the thermometer beeped, and he checked the readout. "Oh, my god, Mom, it's 103.3. You need to go to the doctor."

"All right, buster, I draw the line right there. I don't want to go to the doctor, and I'm not going. He's just going to say it's viral and give me something to 'ease the symptoms' that won't work."

"You don't know that. And what's stopping me from making an appointment for you and carrying you out of here when it's time to go?"

"Armed guards, because I'll be at work." Sharon swung her legs to the floor and started to get up.

"Okay, okay, fine," Rusty said hastily, not willing to call her bluff. He put his hands on her shoulders and settled her against the back of the couch. "I'll be right back with your tea and some Tylenol." He returned a moment later with two pills in his hand and a glass of juice. While Sharon was taking the pills, he went back for her tea and turned the TV to the Hallmark Channel. "I'm going to run to the store down the street. We have nothing here."

"Thanks, sweetheart. Get some money out of my purse. Did you text Provenza?" Rusty nodded. "What did he say? Will they be all right today?"

"I wouldn't worry about them. He said something about being relieved to find out that you're actually human."

"I'll deal with him later," Sharon mumbled, holding her hands to her temples.

"Does your head hurt?" Rusty asked. "Do you want a cold cloth before I leave?"

"No, honey. I'm all right...You sound a little congested," she noted, studying him closely.

"My throat's been kind of itchy, and my nose has been running a little bit for a couple of days. I think I'm just getting a cold."

"I thought the same thing...And then I woke up this morning with the Black Death."

Rusty's eyes widened. "Shit, Mom, am I going to be as sick as you are?"

"I surely hope not...But it looks like you will. Your eyes are starting to look a little glassy."

"Damn it. I'll go buy some groceries while I'm still ahead. Be back soon. Call me if you need me." Rusty changed out of his pajamas, plugged in the lights on the Christmas tree, and left to buy some groceries. When he returned, he unpacked the groceries, started a large pot of chicken soup, using Sharon's mom's recipe, and put his pajamas back on. He got a popsicle from the freezer and a fresh glass of juice for Sharon. While she ate the popsicle, he put a box of Kleenex on the coffee table and a trash bag beside the couch.

Sharon got a handful of tissue from the box and blew her nose, watching Rusty in amusement. "You look like you've done this before."

"Well, I've seen you do this enough times to know the drill. I knew your 'sick day' grocery list by heart." Rusty sat beside Sharon while she slowly ate her popsicle. A different movie was starting, and less than five minutes into it, Rusty knew exactly how the plot was going to go. "Hmm, this woman has been too focused on her career to ever care about Christmas or date anyone or have kids and crap. She's going to wake up suddenly with a husband, kids, and a house decorated to the hilt for Christmas with no memory of how any of it happened. By the time the movie's over, she'll understand what's important in life and it will be the _best_ Christmas _ever_."

"Rusty. This movie just came on for the first time last week. Neither of us have even seen it yet."

"10,000 Hallmark Christmas movies, five different plots. My odds of being right are pretty good." Sharon sighed in exasperation and leaned into Rusty's side. He wrapped his arm around her and straightened the blanket over her. "Do you want me to get up so you can lie down?"

"No. Lying down gives the brick in my nose sharp edges." Rusty grabbed a handful of tissues as she started coughing again. He held it in front of her mouth as she coughed into it. "Mom, please. Let me take you to Dr. Tillman. You could have, like, pneumonia or something."

"No, honey. I've had pneumonia. This isn't it. It's just bronchitis or a respiratory infection or something."

"How bad did Andy freak out when you told him you were sick?"

"I texted him that I just had a cold and wanted to spend the day with you, since we haven't seen much of each other recently. The part about wanting to spend time with you was true, though. I've been sniffling for the last couple of days, so he bought it."

"Sucker."

"Right? I'm sure he'll come by after work before he goes back to Nicole's, but he'll want to get back to her as soon as he can. Having the flu is bad enough, but I can't imagine having to take care of two small children as well." Sharon involuntarily shivered and leaned back against Rusty. He tightened the blanket around her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her chills at bay, like she always did for him when he was sick. It also somehow made the achiness that comes with a fever feel better, too, which made no sense.

"I wish I could put your own arms around you. I know this doesn't feel as good as it does when you do this for me."

"Give yourself some credit. This feels pretty good, and it's definitely the most comfortable I've been all morning." They watched the movie in silence for a few more minutes.

"See! She woke up in a strange bed. She's about to be greeted by a strange husband, children, and probably a dog."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Just watch the movie and keep your predictions to yourself." Smiling, she nestled against her son, finally warm and comfortable enough to be able to go back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Rusty looked down worriedly at Sharon as she shifted and got comfortable against him. She felt like a furnace. She looked drowsy, so he held her more tightly and ran his fingers through her hair, which was guaranteed to put him to sleep every time. "Thanks, honey," Sharon murmured. She was knocked out a couple of minutes later, and Rusty could finally find something non-cheesy on TV to watch. Several minutes later, Sharon's phone dinged with a text from Andy asking if she wanted him to bring lunch. Rusty knew he'd been going to Nicole's during his lunch break and didn't want to keep him from doing that, so he responded that he had lunch and Sharon under control, so Andy could go check on Nicole, where he was needed more. He knew Sharon would agree. Nicole was having a rough time being sick and alone with two small, sick children.

Over the next couple of hours, Rusty got up to stir the soup on the stove a few times, but came right back to the couch to hold Sharon and keep her elevated as she continued to sleep each time. She was right about it hurting congested sinuses even more to lie down flat. He remembered that all too well from having a sinus infection a couple of years ago, and Sharon had held him like he was holding her now for the better part of a week. He patted her back as she started coughing again and could tell from the sound of her breathing that whatever she was trying to cough up from her lungs was getting caught in her throat. He held her up and put some tissue in front of her face, trying to help her clear her lungs.

"Throat feels better," Sharon murmured once she had coughed into the tissues. She gazed critically at Rusty. "How are you feeling?"

"Are you kidding? I just threw away some tissue with some seriously gross crap in it that came from your lungs. You're asking how _I'm_ feeling?" Sharon just looked at him, waiting for his response. "Fine. A little more congested, and my throat is just a little bit more sore."

"That's how I felt when I went to bed last night. I'm afraid you're going to be feeling a lot worse soon."

"God, I hope not. You look like death. No offense."

"None taken. I _feel_ like death...Hmm, Mimi's chicken soup?" The living room had filled with the smell of the soup cooking on the stove since she'd fallen asleep.

"Yeah. I tried, anyway. Speaking of which, you should eat now that you're awake." Sharon started to get up. "Wait, Mom, I'll bring you a bowl."

"Have to...Bathroom..." Sharon muttered. Rusty helped her off of the couch and watched as she walked slowly down the hall. While she was gone, he begrudgingly turned the TV back to Hallmark and made two bowls of soup. She returned and collapsed on the couch as Rusty carried their lunch into the living room. Sharon's head and entire body felt like lead, so she leaned against the back of the couch and just drank from her bowl, ignoring her spoon.

"Mom, you've got to get better. It's freaking me out seeing you like this."

"I know, honey. I'm not exactly loving this, either." Sharon put her bowl on the coffee table, needing a break. After a couple of minutes, Rusty put his half-eaten bowl on the coffee table so he could help his mom with the rest of hers before it got cold. "Everything feels so heavy," Sharon whined.

"Yeah, I think that 103 degree fever has something to do with that...Mom. How in the hell did you think you were going to be able to work today?"

"I wouldn't have lasted very long," Sharon admitted. Rusty helped her finish her bowl of soup, then started the tea kettle for a ginger tea the pharmacist had told him to try. He put the remaining soup in the refrigerator and prepared the ingredients for Sharon's mom's clam chowder while he was waiting for the water to heat up.

Sharon's nose wrinkled when Rusty gave her a mug of tea. "It has ginger, honey, and lemon juice in it. The pharmacist said it would help your cough, and all of that stuff has, like, antibacterial properties or something."

"Rus-"

"You won't let me take you to the doctor. I can't sit here and watch you suffer and not do anything. Which reminds me, I bought some cough syrup, too. It's an expectorant, so it will help you cough up all of that crap that's been coming up." He got the cough syrup from the kitchen and carefully measured it into the dosage cup that came with it.

"I've created a monster," Sharon mumbled after giving in to Rusty's insistence and swallowing the cough medicine.

"Whatever, Mom. If you were half the patient that I am, then we would already be home from the doctor with either an antibiotic or the good kind of cough syrup that would basically put you to sleep until you're better."

"My fever must have gone up. I know I didn't just hear you say you're a good patient."

"No way, I'm terrible. I just said 'better than you.' Pay attention...Speaking of the doctor, maybe you caught the flu from Nicole. Shouldn't you go to the doctor for that?"

"Not necessarily. I don't have the flu, anyway."

"How do you know? Do you have a medical degree I don't know about?"

"The symptoms came on too gradually for it to be the flu, and it just doesn't feel like the flu. Trust me." Sharon accepted the mug of tea that Rusty was pushing into her hands. The hot liquid felt good on her throat, but the flavors didn't exactly go together. She drank it as quickly as she could and gave the mug back to Rusty.

"I'll get you some Gatorade. That shit had to be disgusting."

"It _was_." Sharon glared at Rusty.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just doing what the pharmacist said to do." Rusty brought Sharon a glass of Gatorade and finished putting the clam chowder together while she sipped it.

"What are you cooking now? You made enough chicken soup to last us three days."

"Mimi's clam chowder. I was going to cook it tomorrow, but if I'm as sick as you are by then, then I won't be able to."

"Honey, you shouldn't have worried about that. We could've ordered in if we needed to."

"I've been wanting to try to make Mimi's clam chowder, anyway. I know it's your favorite." Rusty finished up the ingredients and left the large pot cooking on the stove. He went back to the living room, moved the coffee table to the edge of the couch so he could put his feet up, and pulled Sharon into his arms as he settled on the couch. He was getting tired and would probably be taking a nap with her when she fell asleep again. She stayed awake long enough to watch a movie, but several minutes into the next one, her eyes were starting to droop. Rusty hit record on the remote so Sharon could watch the rest of the movie later. "Go to sleep, Mom," he whispered. "You can watch the governess win over the widowed prince's bratty kid and then marry the prince at the end of the movie when you wake up."

"Rus-ugh, I'll scold you later." Sharon coughed into the tissues Rusty had quickly placed in front of her face when he could tell she was getting started up again. "It feels better to get some of that gunk out...Sorry, honey, I know that's gross. I can hold my own tissues, you know."

"Mom. I've, like, thrown up all over you before. Now _that's_ gross. I can handle a little gunk. Finish your Gatorade, then go to sleep." Sharon groaned when Rusty gave her the glass from the coffee table and unwillingly took a few slow sips. "Complain all you want," Rusty said. "But where do you think I learned to be so annoying when someone I love is sick? You're not going to believe this, but it wasn't from the other Sharon." Rusty had meant the comment as a joke, but he instantly regretted it when a sad expression came over Sharon's face, as she was reminded that his other mom had never taken care of him. He took Sharon's empty glass from her and put it on the coffee table. "Need anything?" She shook her head and lay on his chest.

"I love you, sweetheart," she murmured.

"Love you, too, Mom." Rusty covered Sharon with a couple more blankets when she involuntarily shivered. He smoothed his hand over her forehead, hoping it felt as soothing for her as it did when she did that for him. "You feel really hot. Please-"

" _Rusty_. I know very well when I need to go to the doctor and when I don't, I can assure you. It's normal for a fever to go up late in the afternoon. When I feel like I need to go to the doctor, I'll go, but as of right now, I don't."

"Okay, okay." Rusty wrapped his arms around Sharon, trying to warm her up. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and Rusty wasn't far behind her, as illness was slowly taking over his body. Andy let himself in at 6:00, worried after not getting responses from Sharon or Rusty when he had tried to call and text both of them about bringing dinner. His worry grew when he could hear Sharon's hacking from the hallway. She sure sounded worse than the "little cold" she'd told him she had that morning. He quickly opened the door and went inside. Sharon was curled up against Rusty with her head tucked under his chin, and Rusty's arms were wrapped protectively around her. Both were sound asleep. He stood over them and looked closely at Sharon. Her cheeks were flushed, and her breathing sounded congested. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Hmm, hi," Sharon murmured, not opening her eyes.

"Just a little cold, huh? You're burning up."

"Didn't want you to worry. Nicole needs you, and Rusty's taking good care of me." Sharon opened her eyes in time to see Andy give her a skeptical look. "I'm serious. He's been annoying the hell out of me."

Andy smiled. "That's what I like to hear. You still should have told-" He patted Sharon's back when she started coughing again. Without fully opening his eyes, Rusty grabbed a handful of tissues and squinted drowsily at Sharon as he held them in front of her mouth, then threw them in the trash bag on the floor when she was finished. He got up to make Sharon another mug of ginger tea to give them some space.

Sharon smiled at Andy and nodded toward Rusty. "See?"

"Okay, I believe you. I brought some soup from that deli you love, but I don't think it could be as good as whatever is cooking in the kitchen. That smells amazing!"

"Thanks, but you can take it back to Nicole's with you. There are more mouths to feed over there. Rusty made Mom's chicken soup for lunch, and there was a ton left over. He's cooking her clam chowder now, and he bought plenty of groceries this morning. Seriously, Andy, I'm okay. Rusty has it covered. You need to go see about Nicole and the boys."

Andy was conflicted. Sharon was right, he was the only help Nicole had, and she had seemed to be getting worse at lunchtime. He was still reluctant to leave Sharon. "Why don't you come to Nicole's house with me?"

"They're already sick, Andy, they don't need to be exposed to...Whatever I have, too. And I want to sleep in my own bed. I've taken care of Rusty when he's been sick enough for him to know what to do. Please, go take care of Nicole. She needs you a lot more than I do right now."

"All right...But you call me if you need anything, or if you get any worse at all."

"I will, I promise. I'm just going to eat dinner and go to bed."

"Okay. I'll come check on you in the morning on the way to work." Andy held Sharon close for a few moments, brushing his fingers over her hot forehead and through her hair. "I love you. Feel better."

"Love you." Sharon tore herself away from Andy so he could get up. He said goodbye to Rusty, kissed Sharon's forehead, and left.


	3. Chapter 3

When Andy left, Rusty brought Sharon another mug of ginger tea. "Rustyyyy, I've already drank this crap," she whined.

"Well, you're going to drink some more, and then one more mug before bed."

"Nooo, it's gross."

"The pharmacist said three to four times a day. I'm being easy on you. You know if it were the other way around, you'd be making me drink this shit at least five times a day." Sharon glared at Rusty and took the tea from him like it pained her to do so. Several minutes later, she made a face as she drained the last of it and chased it with the rest of her Gatorade. Rusty took her mug and glass into the kitchen and returned with a bowl of clam chowder and a refilled glass of Gatorade. He got a bowl for himself while Sharon started to eat hers. Or sip it, rather. She looked like she could hardly hold her head up. Rusty quickly ate his bowl and helped Sharon with the rest of hers. After cleaning the kitchen, he went to Sharon's room to change her sheets. He'd gotten that idea while Andy was there. He knew he would be checking on her during the night, and if he got in her bed at all, he didn't want to do that if she and Andy had, um, _done_ _stuff_ since she'd changed the sheets the week before.

Rusty dug through Sharon's closet until he found a pair of gloves like the kind she uses to handle evidence. He put the gloves on and gingerly removed the sheets from her bed with as little of his fingertips as was necessary.

"Honey, I just changed the sheets on Saturday," Sharon croaked from her doorway. She was leaning against the door frame like she needed it to hold her up.

"God, you scared me. I knew I'd be coming in here tonight, and if I needed to sit with you for a while, well...I wanted to know what hasn't happened on the sheets I was sitting on."

Sharon laughed helplessly. "We-"

"Stop, Mom, whatever the answer to that is, I don't want to know. Gross." Rusty threw the sheets in Sharon's laundry basket and walked toward the hall closet to get clean sheets.

Sharon's laughs grew louder when she saw the gloves on his hands. "Oh, my god, I just noticed the gloves!"

Rusty had to put a hand on her arm to steady her. "What are you doing up? What do you need?"

"Bathroom. All of that disgusting tea you're forcing down my throat has to go somewhere."

"Did you finish your Gatorade? I don't want you to get dehydr-god, Mom, this is out of control. You're rubbing off on me entirely too much. I'm even annoying myself."

Sharon wrapped her arms around Rusty and leaned into his chest. "At least now you know that I annoy you because I love you." She gave him a gentle squeeze and walked to the bathroom. Rusty put clean sheets on Sharon's bed and picked through both of their laundry baskets for their favorite pajamas and comfortable clothes. He was starting to feel worse, and if he got as sick as Sharon was now, then neither one of them would be up to doing laundry for a few days. Once the washing machine was humming, he sat on the couch and wrapped up in one of the blankets. He was freezing all of a sudden. Sharon came in a few minutes later and curled up beside him. Her fevered body warmed him up a little bit.

"I feel awful," Sharon moaned. She pressed her face into Rusty's shoulder.

"Yeah, I kind of gathered that."

Sharon looked up at Rusty with concern. "You sound like your throat hurts."

"It's not bad. Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm just tired from dealing with a grumpy and stubborn patient all day."

"Uh-huh." She studied him closely for a few more moments. "You're sick."

Ugh, leave it to Sharon to have a nearly 104 degree fever and still notice that he probably only had the tiniest hint of a fever. "And this expert opinion is based on...?"

"Your eyes, honey. They give you away every time." Sharon felt his forehead and stroked his cheek. "You look a little flushed, but I can't tell if you feel feverish with my own temperature being thrown off." Sharon's hand did feel warmer against Rusty's face than it usually did when she felt him for a fever. She started coughing again, and he patted her back as she coughed into the tissues he was holding for her. Sharon wasn't about to admit it, but it was a little easier to cough up the unwanted material from her lungs, and she was getting more of it up since Rusty had given her cough syrup and made her drink that awful tea. Getting all of that out made her feel a little better for the time being, and she settled back against Rusty to watch the movie that had just started. He spread a blanket over her and watched the TV as a young man and woman collided on a sidewalk and dropped everything they had been carrying. They exchanged harsh words about how the other should watch where they're going and huffed off, grateful never to have to see each other again.

"I don't know about you, Mom, but I have a feeling those two haven't seen the last of each other."

"I like these movies because I love Christmas. Not because they have thrilling plots."

Several minutes later, the woman from the first scene arrived at work, where the conversation immediately turned to their strategy for beating out their competition to gain a prestigious client. "Let me guess. The guy she ran into a few minutes ago works for the competition. They'll all of a sudden start seeing each other a lot because they'll both be doing stuff with this client they're trying to bag, and they'll spend most of the movie hating each other. They'll somehow get trapped somewhere together, or otherwise be forced to spend a lot of time alone together, and fall in love."

"Can't you just let your sick mother enjoy a movie?"

"I'm sorry, I'll stop...My way is more fun, though." They watched the movie in comfortable silence for several minutes until the man and woman ran into each other on work-related tasks and started heatedly arguing. "Little do they know, they're going to be sucking face by Christmas Eve." Sharon glared up at Rusty. "Sorry. It's hard to stop." A little while later, he made her drink more tea and take more cough syrup. By the time the movie was ending in the way Rusty had predicted, Sharon was sleeping heavily against him. He knew he should take her to bed, but her fevered warmth and steady breathing made him want to stay where he was. She would be more comfortable in bed, though, so he begrudgingly eased himself out from under her.

Sharon stirred as Rusty got up to take her bed pillows back to her bed. "Wha-"

"Be right back." Rusty returned the pillows and came back to take Sharon to bed. "Come on, sickling." He gathered his mom and the blankets in his arms and carried her to her room.

"Sheets...Cold," Sharon protested.

"I have the blankets from the couch. They're still warm." Rusty gently laid Sharon in her bed and settled the sheet and blankets over her before covering her with her comforter. "Are you cold?"

"Not bad."

"Let me get you some Tylenol PM, and I'll lie down with you for a little bit."

Sharon gave Rusty an amused look. "You're right, this is getting creepy. You sounded just like me."

"What can I say? I learned from the best." Rusty got some Tylenol PM and two glasses of water from the kitchen and grabbed the Kleenex and trashbag from the living room. Sharon was coughing when he came back, and he hurried over to her with the Kleenex so she could cough into it. Once that was taken care of, he climbed into bed beside her as she swallowed the pill. "Call me tonight if you need more water or something, please don't get up unless you have to."

"Mm-hmm," Sharon murmured. Rusty pulled her into his arms and brushed her hair that had escaped from her bun out of her face. She still felt hot and had to be miserable just from the high fever alone. "Feel better, Mom. I love you."

"Love you, sweetie." Sharon reached up and found his cheek with her hand without opening her eyes. "Wake me up if you start feeling really bad." She was sleeping again before Rusty could tell her how dumb it would be for him to actually do that. It would be like the blind leading the blind at that point. He was ready to go to bed, himself, so he laid Sharon down once she was good and asleep, got ready for bed, and climbed under his covers. He couldn't fall asleep for sitting up every five minutes to listen for Sharon. After about an hour, he moved to the living room, where he could hear her better. It was no longer a mystery to him why he'd woken up a couple of mornings before when he'd been, like, _bad_ sick to find Sharon sleeping on the other side of his bed. He gave up and went to crawl in bed beside her, grateful to any and all high powers that he'd had the foresight to change her sheets.

When Rusty woke up again, he was freezing, and his entire body hurt and felt heavy. He stumbled to the kitchen for some Tylenol. As he was drowsily rifling through the medicine cabinet, he felt Sharon's hand on the back of his neck. The hand moved to his back as her other hand went to his forehead. He felt a little warm to her touch, so she knew his temperature was higher than hers. "Moooom, I don't feel good."

"I know, honey. I'm sorry." She pulled Rusty into a hug and held him for a few moments before getting the Tylenol and a glass of water for him.

"Oh, my god, I forgot you were sick. Why are you out of bed?"

"I heard you coughing and wanted to check on you. Come get in my bed, we can be miserable together."

"You sound terrible. Your voice is completely gone."

"You don't sound so good yourself, honey. I thinking my temperature is lower now, though. I don't feel quite as achy or heavy as I did earlier." Sharon tucked Rusty into her bed and kissed his forehead. "Feel better, honey. I hope you can sleep through the worst of...Whatever this crap is."

"Thanks, Mom," Rusty mumbled. He curled up beside Sharon and went to sleep.

On Wednesday morning, Andy stopped on his way to work to check on Sharon. He found her in bed with Rusty at her side, which wasn't good. Either she had gotten worse overnight, or the kid was sick now, too, and wouldn't be able to take care of her. He sat on Sharon's bed and held his hand to her forehead. Sharon's hand came up to grab his wrist, but she hadn't opened her eyes. "Still hot, but you were hotter yesterday," Andy noted.

Sharon cracked an eye open. "That better be a fever you're talking about."

"Of course. Hot doesn't even begin to describe what I'm looking at."

Sharon sat up. "Yeah, I'm sure my snotty nose is a real turn-on."

"Don't tempt me." Andy kissed her forehead. "Is Rusty sick, too?"

Sharon feigned ignorance. "I don't know. I thought he just slept in here because he was worried about me."

"Please. I've seen you notice he was sick from across the murder room."

"Okay, fine, he's sick, but I don't feel as bad as I did yesterday. I can get food and medicine and whatever else when we need it, and we'll just spend the day in bed. We'll be fine."

Andy sighed. "Nicole's temperature shot up overnight, and her cough sounded a lot worse this morning. I'm using personal days for this afternoon and the rest of this week to stay with her. I'm afraid she may be getting pneumonia, so I'm taking her back to the doctor tomorrow if she's not any better tonight."

"You need to be with her, Andy. I'll be fine, I promise."

Andy looked at Sharon uneasily. "I hate leaving you like this. I thought Rusty would take you to the doctor today, but if-"

"I'm really okay. Go to work now so you can get back to Nicole. I'll let you know if I get worse, I promise."

"All right. Call me if you need anything, and I'll come back at lunchtime before I go to Nicole's. I love you."

"Love you." Andy kissed her forehead once more and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Sharon went back to sleep soon after Andy left, and when she woke up again, Rusty was coughing and struggling to sit up. She grabbed some tissues from her nightstand, helped him sit up, and patted his back as he coughed into the tissues in her hand. "Try to get it up, honey. You'll feel better." Rusty successfully cleared his lungs and collapsed against Sharon. She held her hand to his forehead, more for comfort than anything else. He felt warm, but that just meant his temperature was higher than hers. "Your cheeks sure are red," Sharon noted, giving Rusty that concerned/sympathetic look he had come to love. "I need to check your temperature and give you some medicine."

"I'll get it."

"No, I'll get it. I feel a little better today, and I know how miserable you're feeling. Stay here." Sharon returned a moment later with the thermometer, cough syrup, Tylenol, and glasses of water and Gatorade. Rusty just lay limply against her and let her hold the thermometer under his tongue instead of arguing about it like he usually did when she needed to take his temperature. Sharon removed the thermometer from his mouth and checked the readout when it emitted its final beep. "103.6. It should start going down tonight. When I got up with you last night, I could already tell mine was lower."

"Shouldn't you take your temperature, to make sure?"

"No. I can tell. My head doesn't feel nearly as heavy as it did yesterday, and getting up isn't as taxing as it was."

"Please check it, you still sound terrible."

"You're one to talk."

"I also let you check my temperature. Please? I'm still worried about you."

"Ugh, fine." Sharon held the thermometer under her tongue until it flashed a reading of 102. "See? It's over a degree lower than it was yesterday. I don't feel much better, otherwise, though," she admitted.

"Damn, Mom, when you get sick, you go all out. I think I'd rather have the flu than this."

"I think I would, too. Are you hungry?" Rusty shook his head. Sharon gave him two Tylenol and some cough syrup before taking the same for herself. "Do you need anything?"

"Mom, you're sick, too. Don't worry about me."

"I feel better than you do. I don't care how old you are. I'm your mother, and I'm taking care of you. Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

Rusty nodded. "Need some tissues first." Sharon passed him some Kleenex so he could blow his nose and moved the trash bag from the floor to the foot of the bed. She got some of her bed pillows from the floor and put them behind her and Rusty's pillows to keep them elevated. Once Rusty had disposed of his tissues, she pulled him to her and tightened the covers around him.

"You don't have to do this," Rusty mumbled.

"This is actually soothing for me, too. And, you're keeping me warm...Are _you_ warm enough? I brought some extra blankets in here last night."

"Yeah, but I'm too old for this." Rusty made no effort to move from Sharon's shoulder, though.

"Rusty. This is the most comfortable position for you right now, and I know how awful you're feeling. Do you not remember your first Christmas here, when Emily and Ricky both got the flu the day after they got here? I had two 25+ year olds in my bed for almost a week. Well, Emily was going to be sleeping with me, anyway, but it would have been the same, even with different sleeping arrangements."

"Oh, yeah...And I was the one that caught it from them. Not you. But no one at work or anyone else you've been around is sick, so you probably caught this crap from a random person. How does that even happen?"

"Gross! I didn't even think about that!"

"Don't worry, you probably just touched your face right after touching a gas pump or door handle or something that who knows how many other people had already touched. It's not _that_ gross," Rusty teased. "At least I know I caught this crap from you, and not someone, who, like, hadn't showered in a week."

Sharon glared down at Rusty. "I thought you were going to sleep?"

"Yeah, yeah...Freaking you out was fun, but exhausting."

Sharon turned her TV on and turned it to the Hallmark Channel as Rusty settled against her. "This will _definitely_ put me to sleep," Rusty grumbled.

"Good. Maybe I can enjoy a movie in peace without you telling me everything that's about to happen."

"Like you couldn't figure that out yourself."

"I could, but I'd rather just watch and enjoy it without trying to figure it out."

"Whatever...Are you sure you're comfortable?"

"Yes, honey. I promise. I'm going to miss taking care of you when you're on your own and decide to leave me, you know."

"Not as much as I will." Rusty was soon asleep, and after watching half of a movie, Sharon had fallen asleep, as well. Near lunchtime, she woke herself up from coughing and grabbed some tissues. Rusty woke up as she was trying to clear her lungs and was soon coughing along with her.

"Here, honey," Sharon gasped between coughs, handing Rusty a handful of tissues. She held the trash bag open as she and Rusty both threw them away. "I swear, I think that cough syrup worked better yesterday."

"I bet it was the tea I made you drink," Rusty said smugly, but then realized what he had done. "No, no nevermind. That tea probably didn't do crap."

"Actually, I think you're right about the tea helping. The honey made my throat feel a little better, too. Let's move to the couch, and I'll make some for both of us."

"Noooo, it's gross."

"I was a little dramatic about that yesterday. It didn't taste that bad, just...odd."

"I don't do _odd_ tastes."

"Well, you do today. Come on."

By the time Sharon had threatened Rusty enough to give her the ingredients for the tea and they were settled on the couch with mugs, Andy was letting himself in the door. "They live!"

Sharon took a few sips of tea and put her mug on the coffee table. "We do, indeed."

"Barely," Rusty muttered.

Sharon smoothed her hand over his forehead. "The tea will help, and you can take more Tylenol and cough syrup in about an hour."

Andy looked around. "Where is it?"

"My nightstand."

Andy went to Sharon's room for the medicine and placed it on the coffee table. "Have you guys eaten?"

Sharon shook her head. "There's leftover soup in the refrigerator, you mind warming that up for us? You can have some, too, if you want. Rusty made plenty."

"Sounds great." Andy got the soup warming on the stove and refilled the glasses of water and Gatorade that had been on Sharon's nightstand. He placed the glasses on the coffee table and sat beside Sharon. She immediately lay against him and sighed softly when she felt his hand on her forehead. "Not too bad. You were burning up this morning...No, wait, that was Nicole. Have you checked your temperature?"

Sharon sat up and grabbed some tissues as she started coughing again. "102. Lower than yesterday. Have you heard from Nicole since this morning?"

"No. I've been texting her, but I guess she's sleeping. The boys were up when I left this morning, but they had gotten in bed with her and were going back to sleep when I left. I hope they're still sleeping, too."

"Are they still feeling as bad as Nicole?"

"I don't think so. They're not as sluggish as they were at first, and both of their temperatures were around 101 when I checked it this morning. Nicole still felt like hers was at least 103. She's hardly gotten out of bed, and I haven't been able to get her to eat anything since lunch yesterday. I'm calling her doctor when I get back to her house if her fever hasn't gone down."

"Yes, you probably should. That doesn't sound good."

Andy turned to Rusty. "You okay, kid? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm okay. Thanks."

Andy took their empty tea mugs and returned with bowls of soup.

"What else do you need? What do I need to do for you?"

"Nothing, honey, I promise. We have plenty of soup and groceries. If Rusty's not any better tomorrow, then I'll take him to the doctor. Dr. Tillman will see me at the same time if I'm not any better, either. But I feel like this is just one of those viruses that we'll have to wait out."

"I'll come take you guys if you need to go. I don't want you driving like this."

"No, Andy. We'll be fine."

"Good luck with that," Rusty commented. He motioned toward the TV. "Mom's more stubborn than this chick who won't admit to herself that she's fallen in love with that stranger beside her in the few hours they've been on the bus together."

Andy looked at the TV and watched for a few moments. "Oh, that's not her boyfriend? He will be by Christmas Day."

"I know, right?"

"Not you, too," Sharon groaned. "Maybe you're right, I should go to Nicole's...But I'm leaving you here with Rusty."

"So, Nicole watches these god-awful things, too?" Rusty asked.

Andy rolled his eyes. "Like you wouldn't believe. Her place has been Hallmark central all week." He took everyone's empty bowls to the kitchen. "Do either of you want more soup, or anything else to eat?" Sharon and Rusty both shook their heads. His hand went back to Sharon's forehead. "I really hate leaving you like this. You sound awful."

"My throat hurts like hell, so I would imagine so," Sharon said irritably. "But it's nothing a few days on the couch won't fix. You need to go see about Nicole, and if she really is still in bed, then the boys don't need to be unsupervised for too long."

"I guess you're right..."

"Go, Andy. We'll be okay. I promise I'll call you if I need to."

"All right..." Andy kissed Sharon's forehead and patted Rusty's shoulder. Love you. Feel better. Feel better, kid."

When Andy was gone, Rusty's phone dinged with a text message from Gus.

"When's Gus coming back from San Diego?" Sharon asked.

"Not until Sunday. I'm kind of glad he's at that cooking thing with his boss now that I'm sick. I know that sounds bad, and I miss him, but he would, like, feel like he needed to be doing stuff for me, but not know what to do, and it would just get awkward. I'd rather just keep the evil that I know for now."

"Evil? Thanks for that."

"You know what I mean."

"I know. And, I actually feel the same way about Andy," Sharon admitted. "I couldn't quite figure out why I was kind of relieved that he's staying with Nicole this week, but I think that's a big part of it."

"Yeah, I could tell you weren't, like, dying for him to be here. He seems to be taking care of Nicole and her step kids pretty well, though, for him to not have been around much when Nicole and her brother were small."

Sharon snorted. "You were at the library Sunday night when he was calling me every five minutes, asking me what to do. It was entertaining, to say the least. He thought the boys' ear thermometer was a rectal thermometer! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life."

"Oh, my God. That's hilarious." He got some tissues and coughed into them.

"It's a little easier to cough that stuff up since you drank the tea, isn't it?"

"That's some big talk from the woman who was whining about that tea yesterday."

"I just needed to whine...In my experience with you, I know you can understand that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rusty said sheepishly. He lay against Sharon, ready to go back to sleep. Sharon covered him with a few blankets and kissed his forehead. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, sweetheart. So much." Sharon adjusted herself to get more comfortable under Rusty's weight and continued watching the movie, with the sight of the twinkling Christmas tree lights and the sound of her son's now heavy breathing in the background.


	5. Chapter 5

Sharon and Rusty both napped on the couch for a while, and when Sharon woke up again, Rusty was still passed out against her. Now that she was awake, the phlegm that had settled in her chest while she was sleeping needed out. She got a few tissues and coughed into them, trying not to wake Rusty, but he didn't stir. She fondly brushed his bangs back from his forehead and just watched him sleep for a few minutes before turning her attention to the movie on TV. It didn't matter how old her children were, it never got easier to see them not feeling well, and she would do anything in her power to help them feel better. She absently ran her fingers through his hair as she watched the movie until he woke up an hour later.

"Moooom," he moaned, pressing his forehead into her shoulder.

"I know, honey. I'm so sorry."

"I feel like shit."

"I know you do. We'll go to the doctor tomorrow if you're not feeling any better."

"You, too? Like, you're not just taking me."

Sharon sighed. "Yes, honey. Dr. Tillman will see us both if we need to go, but I'd rather wait a day and see how we both do before I make an appointment. We don't have to go if you don't want to, though, unless you get worse."

"'Kay." Sharon got some tissues and held them in front of Rusty when he started coughing and made him take a few sips of gatorade when he was finished. She gave him some Tylenol and cough syrup before taking some for herself, then handed Rusty the remote. "You can watch something else. I've tortured you long enough with Hallmark Christmas movies."

"Nah, it's okay. I'll probably go back to sleep soon, and these are good for when you're sick. You don't have to use your brain to follow them."

"You're funny."

On Thursday morning, Sharon woke up feeling a little better, but her throat still hurt pretty badly, and her cough had only slightly improved. She sipped a mug of tea and watched TV in bed while she waited for Rusty to wake up. When he started stirring, she smoothed her hand over his forehead as he slowly opened his eyes. "Morning, darling. How are you feeling?"

"A little better. Not so heavy and achy, but, god, my throat hurts like crap."

"I know. Mine does, too. I'll get you some tea. It really has helped my throat. Yes, I've already had some this morning." She showed him her empty mug when he gave her a skeptical look. "And it was the ginger and lemon crap, not the good kind. Need anything else while I'm up?"

"Gatorade. Please."

"Okay. Be right back."

Sharon returned a few minutes later with Rusty's beverages. "Do you want to go to the doctor?"

"No...Unless you want to go."

"I'm fine with not going, but let me know if you change your mind."

"I will."

"Want some breakfast?"

"Not really."

"All right. Let me know when you get hungry." Sharon got the thermometer from her nightstand and held it up.

"If you're checking my temperature, you better be checking yours next."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "Fine. Open up." Rusty leaned weakly against Sharon as the thermometer started its incessant beeping. She removed it after the final beep. "102.2. That's much better than yesterday."

"Uh-huh. Your turn."

Sharon stuck the thermometer in her mouth and waited for it to gauge her temperature. "101. Better for me, too."

"Just go ahead and say it. 'I told you so.'"

Sharon smiled. "Well, I wasn't positive until yesterday that I wouldn't need to go to the doctor, so I wasn't exactly right at first. After so many years of being sick myself and having sick children, I usually have a pretty good guess of what the doctor will say based on symptoms."

"But if you hadn't already been sick and so stubborn about not going, then you would have made me go yesterday."

"Because even if an antibiotic wouldn't help, he could've given you something to treat your symptoms until you're feeling better. And told me what to do and what to watch for in case you got worse."

"Oh, the same things that you claimed didn't work just two days ago?"

"Well, they don't work well enough to be worth it for me to have gotten dressed and left the condo," Sharon amended. "You're different. I can't stand to see you so sick, and I feel like I'm doing something useful when I take you to the doctor. And, it reassures me that you're going to be okay."

"But you think I could handle seeing you so sick? You scared the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Sharon kissed Rusty's warm forehead. "Drink your tea."

"Yes ma'am." Rusty took a few sips and made a face. "How are Nicole and her stepkids?"

"Andy said that the boys are starting to come around, but he's taking Nicole back to the doctor. He's afraid her flu is developing into pneumonia. I was afraid he was going to have to bring the boys here while he took her, but he talked his ex-wife into keeping them. Her highness was afraid she would get sick. Andy said they were still lying around a lot, so I wouldn't have minded watching them, but I didn't want them to be exposed to us and get sick again."

"What a bitch. I hope she does get sick."

"Rus-well, I kind of agree." Sharon didn't get very far in her reprimand. A few minutes later, her phone dinged with a text from Andy. He and Nicole were leaving the doctor's office. "Nicole does have pneumonia."

"That sucks. When is her husband coming home?"

"Not until next week."

"How did she get pneumonia? The flu sucks, but I don't remember it getting even close to the point of feeling like it could turn into pneumonia."

"You were also able to rest. You didn't have two small, sick children to take care of. Even though Andy was there at night, and for a little while at lunchtime, Nicole had to look after the boys all day this week while she was sick, too. She probably just didn't get enough rest."

"True." Rusty nuzzled into Sharon's shoulder. "I didn't even have to take care of myself...Oh, my god, what if _you_ get worse? You took care of me all day yesterday."

"You're a lot different than a seven year old and a four year old. I've gotten plenty of sleep, and I still got plenty of rest. I would've gone crazy yesterday if I couldn't have gotten up every now and then. Nicole had the needs of two children to take care of, and I doubt she was able to sleep as much as she needed to. I'll be fine, I promise." Rusty settled against Sharon to watch whatever cheesy Hallmark movie was on at the moment.

Sharon and Rusty stayed either on the couch or in bed through the weekend, and by Saturday night, Sharon's fever was gone, although she was still coughing, had a sore throat, and could barely talk. Rusty's temperature was just under a hundred, so she figured it would be normal the next day. Sharon woke up on Sunday morning to Rusty coughing and leaning over her for some tissues from her nightstand. She sat up to get some for him and held them in front of his mouth. She patted his back as he coughed, and she wrapped her arm around him once she'd gotten rid of the tissue. She held her other hand to his forehead and studied him closely.

"I was hoping your fever would be gone this morning, but I think you feel warmer than you did last night. Are you feeling any worse?"

"I don't think so."

Sharon got the thermometer and checked his temperature. "101.2...I may need to take you to the doctor tomorrow. I hope you haven't gotten a secondary infection. Do either of your ears hurt? Or does your chest hurt any worse?"

"My ears are fine...Hard to tell about my chest."

"Tell me if anything starts feeling worse. I'll get us some tea." Rusty groaned, but had to admit that the tea always provided a little temporary relief. Sharon gave him some Tylenol and cough medicine before she left the room. Once their tea was gone, Sharon turned her TV on and pulled Rusty to her. "Let's just stay in here today. Maybe a full day in bed will help."

"'Kay," Rusty agreed absently. He watched TV as a woman was clearly struggling to drive her car through heavy snow. "Uh-oh, there's a woman driving through snow...She's going to have a wreck, pass out, and wake up with a different life."

Sharon laughed. "I'll give you a free pass on that one. This storyline is a little overdone." The movie progressed as expected, and toward the end, the woman was back in her wrecked car and starting to come to.

"Some man is about to show up to help her, and he's going to be the husband from her dream," Rusty predicted.

Sharon rolled her eyes. "It was still a good movie." She looked at the clock beside her bed. "I'll go get us some soup and something to drink. Need anything else?" Rusty shook his head and lay back against the pillows.

After lunch, Rusty slept on and off against Sharon, and by that night, he had started feeling worse. Sharon worriedly felt his forehead and stuffed the thermometer in his mouth. "102," she sighed, after she checked the beeping thermometer. "I'm calling the doctor in the morning."

"How did this happen?" Rusty whined. "You've been doing everything for me and haven't let me move. How are you still getting better?"

"I don't know. This just happens sometimes. I know you didn't get much sleep during exams, so your immune system was probably already down before you got sick and just couldn't handle it properly." She tucked him in and kissed his forehead. "You'll be okay, honey. Try to go to sleep."

On Monday morning, Sharon woke up with Rusty pressed against her. She could tell his temperature was still up, so she slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen to call their doctor's office and make an appointment for both of them. If she had to leave the condo to take Rusty to the doctor, then she might as well see if anything could be done for her, as well. Even though she was no longer feverish, she still didn't feel well at all. She took a shower, lay back down for a little bit, and got back up and got herself dressed before she had to wake Rusty up. She sat on her bed and gently shook his shoulder. "Rusty? Wake up, honey."

"Noooo."

"Yessss. We're going to the doctor, and you need to get in the shower. Get up."

"Mom-"

"This is not up for discussion. Get up now."

"Okay, okay." Sharon pulled Rusty out of bed and led him to the bathroom.

"I've already put clean clothes in here and gotten a towel out for you."

"Thanks, Mom," Rusty muttered.

"You're welcome, darling. We need to leave in twenty minutes."

An hour later, Dr. Tillman walked into the exam room where Sharon and Rusty were waiting. "Hi, Rusty, hi, Sharon," he greeted. "What's the problem today?"

"We've both had a productive cough, congestion, fever, and sore throats since last Tuesday, but I haven't had a fever since Saturday, and I've been slowly improving. Rusty had been improving, too, until yesterday. His fever had seemed to be going away, but he started feeling worse again, and his temperature went up to 102 last night," Sharon explained.

"It sounds like a severe viral infection that's been going around. Rusty may have developed a secondary bacterial infection, so I'll go ahead and take some blood to check his white blood cell count. If it's high, then that will indicate a bacterial infection. I'm also going to do a chest x-ray to make sure nothing more serious is brewing. Both should be ready once I've had time to examine both of you." Dr. Tillman left for a moment and returned with a nurse to draw Rusty's blood. Rusty gratefully accepted Sharon's offered hand and squeezed it. He hated needles, and Sharon knew it. Once the nurse was finished, she led Rusty to another room for the chest x-ray. When he returned a couple of minutes later, Dr. Tillman started examining him. He asked more detailed questions about how he'd been feeling as he looked in his throat, nose, and ears and listened to his breathing through a stethoscope.

"All right, Rusty, I'm going to wait and see what your blood test and chest x-ray tell me, and we'll go from there. If neither of them show anything, I may have to draw more blood, but I believe a bacterial infection will be the culprit. Have a seat, and I'll examine your mom while we wait."

Rusty hopped off of the exam table and took Sharon's seat as she situated herself on the exam table. Dr. Tillman examined Sharon's throat, nose, and ears and asked her the same questions he asked Rusty. "The two of you seem to have been feeling pretty miserable," he noted as he held his stethoscope to her back and listened to her breathe. Both patients nodded absently. "This virus only surfaces every few years, but it hits people pretty hard. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do for it. I can give you a couple of prescriptions to ease your symptoms, but a steroid shot acts faster, and it will tide you over for a few days. By the time it wears off, your symptoms should be much better. Most people opt for the shot, but it's your choice. The virus will go away on its own, with or without medicine, but I can at least help you out a little bit."

"Shot. Please," Sharon answered.

"I thought so." Dr. Tillman opened a cabinet, removed some supplies, and filled a syringe. Sharon started rolling up her shirt sleeve as the doctor approached her. "I'm sorry, Sharon, but it's not that kind of shot." Sharon gave him a bewildered look, but Rusty caught on immediately. "Rusty, would you mind-"

"You don't have to kick me out," Rusty interjected. "I have no desire to see Mom drop her pants." He made a show of covering his eyes, turning around, and burying his face against the chair.

Understanding hit Sharon. "Oh! Ugh, I don't care." Her modesty as far as doctors were concerned was long gone, she just hadn't expected to have to get undressed at all for this particular visit.

Dr. Tillman chuckled. "Are you sure? It's going to hurt a little bit, too. It's okay if you change your mind."

"I'm sure. If it works faster, then it's fine with me."

Dr. Tillman adjusted the exam table so Sharon could lie flat. "I need for you to lie down on your stomach. I'll cover you with a sheet so you don't feel so exposed." Sharon lowered her bottoms as he draped a sheet over her. He lifted one side of the sheet, wiped an area just above the place where Sharon's leg and pelvic muscle met with a cold alcoholic wipe, and gently gave her the shot. "I'm sorry, I know that hurt," Dr. Tillman apologized when Sharon involuntarily jumped. "It will be sore for a couple of hours, but it will help you feel better."

"It wasn't so bad." Sharon's voice was still barely a whisper. She pulled her bottoms back up and sat up as the nurse returned with Rusty's blood test and chest x-ray results. Dr. Tillman took them and looked over them for a few minutes.

"Rusty's white blood count is elevated, so it's likely that he's picked up a bacterial infection while his immune system has been busy with this virus. That's been fairly common with this virus this year. I don't see any signs of pneumonia or any other serious respiratory issue. I'll prescribe an antibiotic for him and cough syrup with codeine for both of you. Rusty, I can give you a shot as well, or I can give you a decongestant and an anti-inflammatory to ease your symptoms. It's up to you."

"No, it's not," Sharon spoke up. "He'll take the shot."

"What?! _Mom_ -"

"I know you don't like shots, and I'm sure you're not thrilled about where it's given, but I'm not going to watch you feeling miserable any longer than I have to. The shot will help you feel better faster, so that's what you're going to get." Sharon shot Rusty a stern look when he made no moves to leave his chair.

"Okay, okay," he grumbled. He hesitantly climbed back onto the exam table and lay down.

Sharon stood beside Rusty and patted his back. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No...Just don't look."

"No arguments, here." Sharon turned her back to the exam table and held Rusty's hand as Dr. Tillman covered him up and gave him the shot. When she felt Rusty jump, she knew it was over, so she squeezed his hand and let go of it so he could pull his pants back up. "See? That wasn't too bad."

"Speak for yourself."

Dr. Tillman handed Sharon the prescriptions for their cough syrup and Rusty's antibiotic. "You should both see a great deal of improvement over the next couple of days, and you should feel back to normal by this weekend. You will still need to rest as much as possible, and if either of you are still feeling unwell next Monday, then you'll need to come back."

"Ugh, more Hallmark movies," Rusty groaned.

"I feel your pain, Rusty," Dr. Tillman commented as he opened the door. "My wife is obsessed with those movies, too."

"I keep telling you that you can change the channel," Sharon chided.

"Mom, you've, like, waited on me this whole time, even though you've felt like crap, too. It's only fair that you get to watch what you want on TV. Even if it sucks."

Sharon accepted a printout from Dr. Tillman to give to the receptionist. "Feel better, you guys." Sharon and Rusty thanked him, checked out at the front desk, and left to pick up their medicine and go home.

"Couch or bed?" Sharon asked once she and Rusty were back home, dosed up with their medicine, and back into their pajamas.

"Bed. That wore me out."

"Me, too." Sharon wasn't sleepy just yet, but she wanted to lie down. She turned her TV on, climbed into her bed beside Rusty, and felt his forehead. "You still feel hot...Do you want to go back to sleep?" Rusty took one look at the Christmas movie on TV and nodded. Sharon got the Tylenol from her nightstand and gave Rusty two pills and his glass of gatorade. After he took the pills, she read her book and scratched his back as he cuddled into her side and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Thanks so much for reading/reviewing/direct messages! The whining about the lack of Shandy, however, is really annoying, given that a vast majority of MC fanfic is Shandy. Not everyone is obsessed with Shandy, but we do exist. And we have very little fanfic to read. I started writing fanfic for that very reason. If you don't like the story, then don't continue reading it, but please don't discourage the precious few non-Shandy writers out there from writing. There is plenty of unrealistic "Sharon is pregnant/kidnapped/loses her memory" out there for you to read, but the rest of us only rarely get a non-Shandy story._**

Final Chapter.

Late Monday afternoon, after her second nap for the day, Sharon eased herself out of her bed, where Rusty had still been napping beside her. The afternoon spent sleeping and watching Christmas movies in bed had been nice, but she was starting to get a little stir-crazy. She straightened the covers over Rusty and went into the living room to put up some of her Christmas decorations. The tree had been up and decorated for about a week, but her other decorations were still boxed up against the wall behind her desk. After plugging in the tree, lighting a Christmas tree-scented candle, and turning on some Christmas music, Sharon dragged a couple of boxes over to the couch and sat down to go through them. She heard her phone ding from her room, so she hurried to get it before it woke Rusty. She had five texts from Andy. After quickly assuring him that she was starting to feel better and asking how Nicole was doing, she turned back to her decorations.

A few minutes later, Emily called to confirm the details for her visit home for Christmas. "Mom! You're still sick? You still sound terrible."

"I don't feel as bad as I sound."

"Okay, not to go all Freaky Friday on you, but you need to go to the doctor, young lady."

"Rusty and I both went this morning, smarty pants. It was a virus, just like I told you last week, but I did get a steroid shot. Rusty ended up needing an antibiotic on top of the shot."

Emily giggled. "Right in the ass, huh?"

" _Yes_. I wasn't expecting that, but it has helped."

"Yeah, they pump us full of that shit if we get sick before a performance. I had Strep Throat during _The Nutcracker_ last year, and it was gone within hours. Well, not _gone_ , but it had me off of my deathbed."

"You did? I don't remember you being sick last year."

"Exactly. I didn't even have time to whine to you about it."

"That _is_ impressive."

"Yeah, but antibiotics work pretty fast, anyway. By the time the shot wore off, the antibiotics had taken care of it. If you had gone to the doctor earlier, you would probably be feeling bad again by now."

"True. Dr. Tillman said we should both be much better in the next couple of days, and then back to normal by this weekend. I don't know why I still don't have a voice. My throat still hurts, but not badly enough for me to sound like this. I would have gone back to work today if Rusty hadn't started feeling worse last night."

"That's dumb, Mom. There's no telling how many sick days you have stashed away. You might as well use them."

"Yes, but four years with a teenager in the house has put a little dent in them, and I like to know that if any of you were to get hurt or really sick or something that I would have plenty of days to be with you."

While confirming Emily's flight information, Sharon's phone beeped with an incoming call from Chief Howard. "I have to go, Em, Chief Howard is calling. I'll pick you up at the airport at noon on the 22nd. Love you."

"Thanks, Mom. Love you. Feel better."

"Chief Howard, what can I do for you?" Sharon inquired after switching over the call, hoping her team hadn't been rolled out.

"Hi, Captain. I was just calling to check the status of you and Andy, in case Major Crimes gets rolled out in the next couple of days. I can tell you still don't feel well, and I understand that Andy's daughter is sick. I've had a couple of officers from other divisions on call in case your team is called in, so I just need an estimate of how much longer that will be necessary."

"Andy's son-in-law will be back in town on Wednesday. I'm not sure when I'll be back at work, but if we get a case, I feel well enough now to at least deal with that."

"No, Captain, you sound like you still need to rest. No worries about your absence, I just needed a time frame. Get yourself well, and I'll see how you're doing on Wednesday. Again, no pressure, I just need to be prepared for the inevitable middle-of-the-night rollout."

"Thanks, Chief."

"You're welcome. Hope you're feeling better soon."

Rusty shuffled in a little while later as Sharon was arranging her bows on the wall with the pictures. He threw himself onto the couch and pulled a blanket down on top of him. Sharon crossed the room and sat beside him on the couch. "How are you feeling?"

"Three...two..."

Sharon gave Rusty a bewildered look as she placed her hand on his forehead, checking his fever. "Your fever's not quite as high as it was earlier this afternoon...And what was that about?"

"It took less than three seconds for you to do that. I think that's a new record," Rusty said, indicating her hand that was still on his forehead.

"I can't help it. It's habit." Sharon got up to get him a glass of juice. "Need anything else?" Rusty shook his head. Sharon sat back down and patted his back when he started coughing. "Let me get your cough syrup..."

"Noooo, that stuff puts me to sleep."

"But it will help you feel better."

"Okay...But if I have to take mine, then you have to take yours."

"Ugh, fine. I refuse to take any more of that coma-inducing crap until I'm ready to go to bed tonight."

Rusty smirked. "I thought so."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "You're just taking advantage of me because my defenses are down." She smoothed her hand over Rusty's forehead and went to the kitchen to make some tea for both of them. She made a mug of the ginger-honey-lemon juice concoction for Rusty, but brewed a mug of her favorite tea for herself. Her throat wasn't quite as sore as it had been, but it was still bothering her, so she added some honey to her own tea before joining Rusty on the couch.

"Mom, that shit's disgusting!" Rusty whined.

"But it will help. It's that or the cough syrup. Stop whining, I'm drinking it, too," she lied.

Rusty begrudgingly accepted the mug and took a few sips. Several minutes later, he looked suspiciously at Sharon. She hadn't grimaced once while sipping her tea, and she seemed to actually be enjoying it. "Wait a minute..." Rusty grabbed her hand and pulled her mug closer to him. He smelled his own tea and then smelled hers. "No fair, Mom, you made the good kind of tea for yourself and gave me the nasty stuff. How is this fair?!"

"Your cough is worse than mine. And, I'm the mother. If I say it's fair, then it's fair."

"Whatever," Rusty grumbled.

Sharon smoothed his bangs back from his forehead. "I wouldn't make you drink it if I didn't honestly think it would help you feel better."

"I know, I know."

Sharon put her empty mug in the dishwasher and got Rusty's antibiotic while he was finishing his tea. She handed him a pill and his juice in exchange for his empty mug. "Need anything?" Rusty shook his head as he swallowed with a grimace, and Sharon sat with him for a little while before going back to her decorations.

Rusty lay on the couch for a while, enjoying the soft glow from the tree's twinkling lights and the Christmas music playing as he watched his mom carefully place the decorations in their usual places. It was uncharacteristically gray and dreary out, which made it feel even cozier inside. His thoughts wandered to his biological mother. This was probably the first real Christmas she was going to have since the last Christmas she'd spent with her own parents as a teenager, now that she was living with Gary's parents. They would probably have the decorations, good food, traditions, and celebrations that had been lacking in her life since she'd been on her own. He remembered his first Christmas with the current Sharon, when he could actually enjoy Christmas for the first time in his life. He'd finally gotten the love and family he'd gone without for so long, and spending time with her family and being included in their traditions had been more than good enough for him. He'd been shocked on Christmas morning when there was a pile of gifts under the tree for him, after everything Sharon had already done for him. A couple of months later, when he'd gotten sick for the first time since he'd started living with her, it didn't even occur to him to tell her. He hadn't tried to hide it, he'd just expected to take care of himself, like he'd always done before. It didn't take long for Sharon to realize he wasn't feeling well, though, and she'd dropped what she was doing and stayed by his side until he was feeling better.

Sharon glanced at Rusty and caught the distant expression on his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just thinking. Um, thanks for taking care of me. You've done it so much before that I think I kind of take it for granted now."

Sharon walked over to the couch and sat beside Rusty. "Well, that's one thing you _can_ take for granted. Whenever you need me, I'll be right here with you."

"Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, baby." Sharon held him for a few moments, then kissed his warm forehead and got up to see about dinner. "Do you want chicken soup or clam chowder?"

"Chicken."

Sharon got the tupperware container with the remaining soup out of the refrigerator and poured some into a pot to heat up on the stove. Rusty's cooking frenzy the first day she'd been sick had been a huge help. "Do you think your throat can handle a panini?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Just ham and cheese." Sharon pulled the panini maker out of a cabinet and made hot sandwiches for both of them while the soup heated up. Once they had eaten and Sharon had put their dishes in the dishwasher, she was getting tired again. She wasn't ready to go to sleep, but she wanted to be in her bed. Andy called soon after she and Rusty were settled in her bed.

"You said you were feeling better," Andy said accusingly when Sharon answered the phone. An ill-timed coughing fit didn't help things, either.

"I said I was _starting_ to feel better, and I am. It's not as bad as it sounds, I promise."

"Uh-huh. So, I'm guessing you and the kid are laid up in bed, watching another one of those godawful movies?"

"They are _not_ 'godawful.'"

"Sure they're not. Put Rusty on." Sharon handed her phone to Rusty. "What brand of drama is going on in Hallmark Christmas land now?" Andy asked.

"This girl meets some guy she really likes, but doesn't realize that he thinks she's someone else right away. When she realizes she's not who he thinks she is, she doesn't correct him. They'll fall in love, he'll get pissed when he realizes she's been lying to him, but they'll magically make up by Christmas Eve."

"Ugh, those are the worst ones. You have my sympathies, kid."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

Exasperated, Sharon took her phone back from Rusty. "That's enough of that. How are Nicole and the boys?"

"The boys are fine. They'll be going back to school tomorrow. Nicole's not doing any good. There's not much I can do for her besides making sure she eats, takes her medicine, and that her temperature doesn't get too high. All she does is sleep. What about you guys? I can come over in the morning after I take the boys to school. Nicole will just be sleeping, anyway."

"We're fine, Andy. The doctor said we should both be feeling much better in the next couple of days. A good night's sleep tonight will do both of us some good."

"All right...But call me if you need anything. Seriously."

"I will. Love you."

"Love you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sharon ended the call and absently stroked Rusty's hair as she watched the movie.

"Your bed feels soooo good," Rusty mumbled, curling up more closely beside Sharon.

"Honey. The exact same mattress is on your bed. The sheets are even the same, just a different color."

"What?! No way. I mean, my bed's comfortable, but it's nothing like this."

"Emily and Ricky have said the same thing about these beds. I don't know what difference you guys could possibly find." Sharon brushed Rusty's bangs back and felt his forehead, pleased that his temperature still seemed to be going down.

"It's probably just that you're our mom. You could make, like, a slab of concrete seem comfortable."

"Aw, thanks, sweetheart. I certainly am your mom, and I couldn't be happier about it."

"That makes two of us."


End file.
